Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 45 grain TSX vs 45 grain soft point in 22 Hornet?

Anyone have experience with the TSX? Will the little Hornet drive one fast enough to function properly? Or should I stick with the good old factory loaded Winchester soft points.... It's use will be 95% pigs under 100 yards, possibly one of my boys first deer and whatever occasional varmints present themselves. Thanks in advance gentlemen.

I have no experience with the standard c&c Hornet bullets, I've always loaded the 45 gr TSX in a model 70 22 Hornet, I can tell you that bullet leaving my rifle at 2922 fps will penetrate a coyote lengthways at 88 yards, busted one in the chest pestering a cow down trying to calve, DRT as may be expected, hole digging armadillos and possums are no problem either.

There was a guy here on the 'fire that posted some pics of a pile of dead deer he killed with his 22 Hornet, IIRC it was a Contender pistol, showing us that even with perhaps a lot less velocity than my rifle the 22 Hornet/45 gr TSX will get it done.

What is your barrel length and load if you don't mind my asking?

24" barrel on the old pre-64 Hornet.

Load is all the Lil-Gun powder I can get into a W-W case, a touch over 13 grains, I use a drop tube and seat the bullets in two stages and use small magnum rifle primers, my load book is not close, but iirc, I use CCI-450 mag primers.

It is a blaster of a little load, and will go half inch for three or four rounds at 100 yards in calm winds.

Factory varmint loads for the Hornet will likely be too soft for pigs or deer. I have killed several deer with the Hornet under ideal conditions ( all shots less than 40 yards and broadside ) but I would not recommend it for a first time hunter. If forced to use the Hornet I would opt for a case full of Lil Gun and CCI Small Rifle Magnum primers with the TSX.

Consider the .223 and the 55 grain TTSX. I worked up a load for a friend's grandson using that combo in a H&R single shot and he has dropped maybe a half dozen deer ( and several coyotes ) out to about 125 yards. Never recovered a bullet.

At any range more than 50 yards a head or neck shot will be waited for. I killed a truck load of game with an identical rifle and 45 grain Winchester soft points when I was a boy, dad didn't handload and hunted for meat. Only head/ neck shots were allowed. I'm just wondering if the TSX with a stiff load changes the game at 50 yards. What bullet did you use on deer CrowRifle?

I'll have to try the Lil Gun. Not sure my 77/22 will shoot that well though!

I struggled with LiL Gun until I followed Mule Deer's lead and switched to CCI450s. Now it groups about as well as it does with H110, with a lot less pressure, which should help with case life. I also tried 40gr Varmaggedons in place of the VMaxes I used before, also with excellent results, and available cheaply from SPS.

I haven't tried the TSXs yet, fearing they might not spin right in my 1-16 barrel. Maybe I should, because I'd like a load with good speed that wouldn't tear up fur or meat (turkey) too much, but still be a killer on 'yotes or if need be, deer.

Nosler BT 40 grain through the heart. They made a mess internally but never exited. But none of them ran more than 100 yards, but there was not much blood to follow.

I had a 🐝 Hornet. It was fun to shoot. Traded it like a Dumass.

Back when I hunted with an old pre-64 Hornet, I found the factory 46 gr. HP's much tougher than the soft point factory ammo. E

Only time I played with the Hornet was with the Mod 77/22, and that one was an "OK" shooter. I ruined it by having it reamed tot he KHornet, I got aggravated with it trying to get it to shoot well, sold it. I then went to a CZ 527 in .221 Fireball ( because at the time I couldn't find one around here in .22 Hornet) for my "Teensy" itch...it with the 50 XLC older Barnes and 50 Vmax scratched it very well, and was much better in the wind out here in this High Desert. My favorite Uncle in East Tx used the 30-06 then big magnum rifles on those little deer for years. He got tired of being kicked/cutting them in half ( not really, just "looked like it" did!) His grandson (that would be my 2nd cousin?) bought him an H&R single shot in 22-250, put a big scope on it, he shoots deer off a feeder around 75yds, high lung shots, no head or neck ( he is usually too sleepy to aim that tight! ha). Pure poison with just the 55gr factory soft nose. He loves it, the deer don't. That, or something like it in 22-250 is a good choice for kids i.e. close range, small deer, right bullet. Have a ball though!

I've been using a Barnes 45gr X and XLC in my Ruger Hornet since 1992. I can tell you that yes, they will work. When I run out of XLC, I'll switch to the TSX.

I use 13.0gr of Lilgun, a small pistol primer, and this load will chrono right at 2,900fps, and shoot MOA, or slightly better.

Many, many coyotes, and several turkeys, have been taken with this load.

my pre war mod 70 loves the nosler 45 hornet b/t getting really hard to find. took out a few turkey and p-dogs. biggest thing so far id head shot on antelope at many 75 yards, DRT!

I've shot a few pigs with my Hornet, using Winchester's 46 gn HP, but it would not be anywhere near my first choice for the job. More a case of that being the rifle I happened to have in my hands. It really puts a high premium on placement, especially if your pig is of any size. Even a comparatively small step up, to something like a .223, makes a difference in my experience.

Dan that lesson in waiting for the right shot is one I was taught young and will teach my boys the same way. Head/ neck shooting pigs at reasonable ranges isn't a great feat of accuracy or marksmanship. However it is a good lesson in waiting for the right shot. My TSX question is more geared towards broadside deer no more than 50 yards. In my experience deer are a little trickier to get a head or neck shot on due to the amount of time they spend head up versus a pig's generally head down posture.

Point being, I'll not shoot a pig behind the shoulder with any rifle chambering.